


The Suthay Chronicles Chapter 9: The Eternal

by Vicsvinny



Series: The Suthay Chronicles [11]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Argonians (Elder Scrolls), Cyrodiil (Elder Scrolls), Dunmer (Elder Scrolls), Gen, Khajiit (Elder Scrolls)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicsvinny/pseuds/Vicsvinny
Summary: There are Greater Powers at play in this world
Series: The Suthay Chronicles [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817335





	The Suthay Chronicles Chapter 9: The Eternal

**\-----Next Day | Fort Strandarus | Around Mid-day------**

“Right, so one of the best ways to kill a Redoran is to insult their pride.”  
“Insult? You can kill a Redoran through words?” Haxal questioned  
Mirian chuckled at Haxal's naivety  
“Of course not. Words can’t hurt people. But the Redoran are normally a prideful bunch, seeing themselves as ‘The Great Defenders of Morrowind. So, when you shit on their hereditary title of ‘Great Warriors’ then they take it a bit too personally, and really let their guard down. Letting you to, quite easily get a quick and efficient stab to the heart in”  
Mirian then picked up her dagger, and ran a finger along the blade, while holding a somewhat sadistic-looking grin  
Haxal shuddered slightly  
“You.. uh.. Have experience at killing Redoran? I take it?”  
Mirian peered up at him sitting in his cot next to hers  
“Oh yeah. I’ve killed a lot of things in my lifetime. Morrowind is not as safe as you Southerners make it out to be. Once you step foot out of the Temples in Mournhold, you better watch your back. Kill first, ask questions later.”  
Haxal took in a deep breath, for some reason, having Mirian talk about killing things unnerved him ever so slightly. She just seems so nonchalant about the prospect of death and murder. Almost like it’s another side of her he never really witnesses.

“What about Dres? How do you kill a Dres?” He found himself asking, with no forethought on what exactly he was saying  
Upon hearing those words, Mirian paused in her admiration of the dagger, and gave him a slow and foreboding side glance

 _“Best way to kill a Dres?”_ She muttered in reply

Haxal’s hands clasped around his mouth  
“I’m sorry, your Dres, and I wasn’t thinking when I said it”  
Mirian then got that _‘fire’_ in her eyes

 **“SHUT UP.”** She bellowed at him

Haxal’s mouth clamped shut as she got up and stood over him, holding the dagger by the blade  
She then leaned down and whispered to him  
“You want to know the best way to kill a Dres?”  
He gave a mix of both nodding and shaking of his head. He was curious, sure. But the way that Mirian was glaring at him, made him fear for his life.  
Mirian stood up and twirled the dagger in her hand  
“I sometimes ask myself that very same question Haxal.”  
She paced back and forth. Haxal was still afraid to move or say anything  
“Could you just simply stab them until the body stops twitching? Could you just throw them off a cliff into a pit of ravenous Nix-Hounds?”  
She paused and looked up at the ceiling  
“You do not know how long I have thought of that Haxal.”

She then turned her head towards him, and that ‘fire’ turned into a dark, almost soulless expression  
“The best way to kill a Dres, is with the very thing they hate the most.”  
She then paused in her speech, like as if she was waiting for him to respond  
“And.. what would that be?” He asked, his tone shaking slightly  
Her lips curved into a cruel grin

“You get their Thralls to do the killing for you.”

Her normal Dunmeri face returned as she laid back down in her cot, placing the dagger on the nearby trunk  
“The best way to kill a Dres is by having the slaves do it for you Haxal. Assassination is not merely done for the bloodlust and enjoyment of the perpertrator, but it is also committed to make a statement to the rest. And when the slaves are the one to kill their Dres Overlords, it is a declaration that very few can ignore”  
Haxal gulped and allowed himself to calm down  
“Which is why the Argonian Invasion was such a beautiful statement. All those slain Dres… All those lies and self-indulgent bullshit dying off with them..”  
“I.. I really hit a touchy spot didn’t I?” Haxal asked  
Mirian propped one leg over the other  
“The Dres brought it upon themselves Haxal. The fact that a large part of Morrowind was also punished because my House didn’t want to accept change..”  
Her words trailed off, until she let off a deep sigh  
“Please don’t think any less of me Haxal.. The only reason why Taz has bothered to be around me for this long is because.. She knows that I couldn’t bear to lose the only person who understands me..”  
Haxal heard her sniffle quietly

“I’m a wreck Haxal. And I got you roped into all of this with me”  
He took a moment to ponder what she had said. Then was brought back to reality after hearing the Dunmer sobbing to herself  
He got up, and placed a hand on her shoulder  
She stopped her whimpering and peered up at him through teary eyes  
“First of all: _I willingly chose to come with you.”_  
Mirian sniffled, and wiped a single tear streaming down her cheek  
“Second of all: No one’s perfect. You may be a wreck, sure. But who’s to say that you're the worst out there? You have a sketchy background, and hold a lot of hate and regret within you. But I have also seen a girl who, Likes to make a joke and smile at the world around her. Just because you know 101 different ways to kill a man, doesn’t make me think less of you Mirian”  
He then paused momentarily after his speech. 

Wow that.. That felt great. It all just came out as he was saying it, there was no forethought, he just said it. Maybe this is what they mean when they tell you to ‘Just say what you truly feel inside’  
He looked down at Mirian, and to his surprise, she wasn’t crying anymore and she wasn’t noticeably angry.  
She looked almost shocked  
_“Do you really mean that Haxal?”_ She asked him

“I do.” He replied

Within a moment, Haxal was tackled off of Mirian’s cot and onto the cold, stone floor before he had a moment to react  
He squirmed to try and escape, thinking that Mirian was trying to stab him or something, but she wasn’t trying to kill him.  
She was embracing him  
He laid unmoving for a moment as she held him firmly in her arms  
“You do not know how much that means to me for you to say that Haxal.” She said softly to him, her head resting against his shoulder  
He then reached around and held her back, which only prompted her to squeeze him tighter

The sudden flurry of loud thumping and panicked voices raising in the Barrack outside of their room did nothing to alleviate the moment they were sharing with one another  
Mirian was whispering something, but Haxal couldn’t make out what exactly she was saying, and just assumed she was speaking in some Dunmeri language.  
With a violent burst, the Guest Room door swung open and Vindalmo glared down at them

 **“GET UP”** He shouted

Mirian yelped and jumped off of Haxal, almost like a startled cat  
Haxal shot his head back at the door, where Vindalmo stood in full armour  
“Oh.. Er.. Hello sir. It wasn’t what it looked like..”  
Vindalmo gave them both a steely glare  
“We’re under attack. Get up to the courtyard now.”  
“Wait what? Under attack? By who??” Mirian asked in alarm

“Who else? The Thalmor found us”

A chill set in through the room  
“Get geared up and meet me up top ASAP”  
Vindalmo slammed the door shut, then shouted orders at whoever still remained in the barrack  
Mirian and Haxal both shared a concerned expression to each other  
“You heard what he said. We need to get ourselves ready”  
“Haxal.. But.. What if we’re the reason why the Thalmor found them?” Mirian asked in a rare moment of trepidation  
Haxal glanced away for a second, then looked back at her  
“Do not worry about that now. Battle calls Mirian”  
She gave a confident nod to him, before stammering to hastily equip her gear  
What worried Haxal more than the fact that the Thalmor had found them, was that they were trapped like rats in here..  
He glanced back at Mirian as she was quickly throwing on her travelling attire, then his mind drifted off to crippled Taz, nestling in the Infirmary.  
If anything, it depended on him and Mirian to protect Taz.  
He knew that it would be the same any other way.

Fire and lightning crackled up against the crumbling stone walls of the fortress as the defenders hid behind makeshift barricades and battlements hastily erected upon first hearing word of a large Thalmor force headed this way  
Arrows and bolts of magic flew overhead, men yelled and wailed as incoming fire struck them.  
The gatehouse had been fortified with a barricade formed out of wagons, crates, barrels, and anything else the Rebels could stuff into the breach.  
Haxal and Mirian emerged into the wintry conditions as pellets of snow fell down upon them like icicles. The weather was not helping the situation.  
Beyond the walls sat a thick layer of fog, further reinforced by a thick blanket of snow as it pelted against the fortress walls along with the incoming fire.

Vindalmo stood in the Courtyard, bellowing out orders and commands to his men as the two ran up to him, fully geared and prepared for battle  
“We’re ready” Mirian said  
Vindalmo looked back at them  
“Good. I don’t know how these bastards found us, and how they managed to get past our early warning system, but that’s not important now. We’re stuck until we can get the collapsed passageways open again. There’s an underground river that goes through the bottom of the fort. It’s infested with the undead, but we can deal with them better than the Thalmor.”  
“What do you need us to do then?” Haxal chimed in, placing one hand on his axe held up against his waist.  
“Hold the walls. Hold back the Thalmor until we can call a retreat into the caves.”  
“We can do that” Mirian replied, sparking a flame in her hand  
“Good. I thought we had more time before they found us..”  
“Uh.. sir. A question if I may” Mirian raised  
“What is it?” He replied, a tinge of annoyance in his tone  
“Are we the reason why the Thalmor found you?”  
Vindalmo glared between them both as a large blast of fire streamed over the outer-walls and erupted into a vicious fireball against the Fortress wall  
“Neither the time nor the place to worry about that. **MOVE IT”**  
Mirian and Haxal hurried their way up to the wall, to see what was arrayed against them

Going up the stairs, Rebels pushed past them, dragging away casualties, bringing up more ammunition, or simply collapsing down it, after being struck by stray arrow fire  
Mirian and Haxal kept low as they made their way up onto the battlements, where they saw the force besieging the Fort.  
From what they could make out through the thick fog cover, a large horde of Thalmor stood waiting at the bottom of the Valley. Their golden armour sheeming in the snowy climate and the blazing of torches.  
Scattered before the walls were archers and low-leveled mages, skirmishing with the defenders on the battlements.  
While there was a decent amount of Thalmor bodies strewn throughout the snow, there were a lot more of them, and so few Rebels.  
Suddenly, an archer next to them was impaled by an arrow in the chest, and fell back like a brick.  
**“HEALER!!”** Another called out  
Haxal went to peek over the machicolations, when an arrow ricocheted off the rock before his eyes  
He flung back to the ground when suddenly, the blaring of war-horns sounded from the Thalmor below in the valley

**“THEY’RE COMING!!”**

**“MIRIAN, HAXAL GET TO THE GATE”**  
Vindalmo’s voice echoed over all the sounds of battle  
Mirian and Haxal made their way down the stairs, and to the gate, where they stood amongst a group of Rebels, forming a shield-wall before the cobbled barricade  
“I really hope Taz is doing ok..” Haxal muttered  
“Don’t worry about her right now. Worry about yourself and everyone else beside you. We can win this” Mirian replied  
“Wish I had your sense of optimism, Mer” One of the Rebels said back to her  
"Quiet in the ranks! Focus on the foe in front of you. Worry about them, not us!"  
There was a sudden banging and splintering of the barricade as the Thalmor were attempting to bust their way through  
The shield-wall went silent, listening to the sounds of battle ringing out around them, and the danger directly before them  
**“THEY’RE BREACHING THE BARRICADE! BRACE YOURSELVES MEN! FOR THE EMPIRE!”**

**“FOR THE EMPIRE!!”** All the voices rang out as the first breach in the barricade was split and Thalmor began pouring through 

The shield-wall lifted and charged the Altmer in a triumphant cry, hammering into the scattered infantry as they attempted to seal the breach once more.  
Mirian went to join the charge, when a sudden spark of realization struck her like a drunken fist in a Nordic bar  
“Haxal. Reach into my pack and get the scroll”  
“What scroll?’ He asked  
**“JUST GET THE DAMN SCROLL!”**  
“Alright”  
He reached into her backpack, rummaged around a bit, all the while glancing nervously at the line of Rebels, now beginning to falter amongst the onslaught of professional Aldmeri soldiers, who were now assuming a shield-wall of their own.  
He then pulled out a small rolled up parchment  
He handed it to Mirian, upon which she snatched from him and unrolled it before her  
“What is it?” He asked  
“It’ll save us all is what it is”  
A sudden stream of arrows came flying over the barricade, passing over them but striking a few archers and lone Rebel swordsmen waiting out back.  
Mirian held the scroll firmly in her hands 

**_“Ghalih Vraks su ton Oblivion, deinon su kair vuran sool vrein._**

**_Su fumat perra spiek._**

**_Ghalih Vraks su ton Meiizjer._**

**_Ta tirrin Shoul mey Vrass”_**

Within that last utterance, the air shimmered and heated, the wind and snow circled around a spot, and a resonance of blinding warmth beamed from it, melting the snow nearby until soon a rift began to form at the gate  
The Rebels forming the shield-wall fell back in terror, as the Thalmor halted their attack and stared at the sudden rift in reality forming before them.  
A flash of dark energy rippled through the courtyard, blinding everyone as the silhouette of a hulking figure manifested itself at the rift  
Mirian lowered her arm, shielding her eyes and gazed upon a Daedra. _A Dremora_

The creature was concealed in a full suit of black, hellish-forged armour, with what looked like blood perpetually seeping through the crevices, glowing a deep crimson red with demonic energies.  
Sheathed in black leather on it’s back was a massive battleaxe, forged in the same dark material, seething with blood.  
Upon it’s head sat a dark helmet, it’s face shrouded and obscured by shadow. Only two glowing red eyes gave away any feature beneath the shadow.  
The Dremora took a step forward at the Thalmor, frozen pale in horror  
It motioned it’s head around, as if it was inspecting the combatants before him. Then with one fluid movement, it gripped the massive axe, and held it in one hand like it were weightless. 

**_“I LONG TO TASTE MORTAL FLESH ONCE AGAIN”_**

The Dremora ushered it's words in an unearthly voice, before charging forward like a boulder in a rockslide, slamming directly into the Thalmor lines  
**“KILL THE DAEDRA!”** The Thalmor yelled and attempted to kill the monstrosity  
The Dremora simply swung it’s axe to-and-fro, cleaving, slicing and sending Thalmor flying in pieces with but single, yet brutal swings  
When the Thalmor attempted to stab and actually attack it, the Dremora would grab the assailants sword by the blade, crushing the metal within its grip, and then proceeded to cleave the unlucky Mer like a hot knife through butter.  
The Dremora wasn’t fighting the Thalmor  
_It was slaughtering them_  
The Rebel defenders stayed back and watched in both relief, and overwhelming horror upon witnessing the sheer butchering unfolding before them. This thing was unstoppable as it then chased the Thalmor out of the gatehouse and into the open field beyond the walls, cackling and swinging the axe around in grisly humour.  
Mirian’s jaw still lay hanging. She summoned THAT THING.  
She peered at the scroll in her hand, the Daedric lettering was now gone, and it was now just a blank piece of parchment.  
Haxal cleared his throat  
“So.. You uh.. You had **THAT** sitting in your pocket this entire time huh?”  
He muttered at Mirian  
She nodded slightly in response  
“Uh huh..” 

**“RETREAT!! RETREAT!!!”**

The Thalmor ran from the gatehouse with tails between their legs as the Dremora emerged into the wintry field, and now gazed upon the Thalmor battlelines  
It laughed in a deep, guttural howl as the remaining Thalmor lines took a step back in fear 

**_“MORTAL SWINE! I SHALL FEAST UPON YOUR SOULS THIS DAY”_**

Ulundil stepped forward in front of his men  
**“WHAT IN THE THIRTEEN HELLS IS THIS NEW DEVILRY?? THE REBELS BOW BEFORE THE DAEDRA NOW?”**  
The Dremora only swung his battleaxe in response, sending a wave of eldritch energy forward, sending those who were struck flying back, while a few merely collapsed where they stood, now soulless husks of the Elf that once was  
“KILL IT!” Ulundil ordered through clenched teeth  
Volley after volley of arrows were fired, aimed solely at the Dremora  
It simply raised a hand, and a field of black energy was summoned before it, catching every arrow and bolt fired at it, then with a clench of his fist, every arrow snapped and every bolt dispelled  
**“KEEP FIRING! I WANT THAT FUCKING THING DEAD!”**  
The Dremora then cried a battle prayer in the Daedric tongue before charging downhill and swung his axe at the nearest Elf. Laughing and revelling in the Aldmeri blood spilled across his armour. 

**\------30 minutes later------**

Mirian, Haxal, Vindalmo and the surviving Rebels stood before the Dremora, drenched entirely in Elven blood.  
The Thalmor army was put to full flight back to Anvil. Their blood and mangled corpses now staining the snow.  
Mirian inched forward, unsure on whether or not she was going to get executed by this thing, or given a pat on the shoulder for summoning it into this battle.  
The Dremora simply glared down at her from his shadowed helmet as he towered over her. 

**_“Fear.. Mortals are ripe with it.”_** The Dremora said in a sinister tone 

“I.. Uh.. We want to thank you for.. Saving us” Mirian muttered meekly to it.  
This thing had an aura surrounding it which sapped her of all courage. She felt like a sheep prostrating herself before the butcher.  
The Dremora responded in a guttural laugh as it slammed the axe head into the snow, which shook the ground slightly 

**_“I did not SAVE you. Were it not for that paper you possess. Your headless corpse would be bowing before me.”_**

“And.. where would our heads be?” Haxal asked timidly  
The Dremora gave off a brief but cruel snicker 

**_“Adorning my skull rack.”_** It hissed back at him 

“Well.. Regardless of your intentions. You saved us. And we thank you.. Er.. Mr.. Sir.. Thing..”  
The Dremora scoffed and hoisted the battleaxe back into its scabbard. 

**_“You may refer to me as ‘Skolas the Eternal.’ For I may yet carve it upon yours souls as an offering.”_**

Mirian gave a bow as modestly as she could, and surprisingly, so did everyone else  
Skolas seemed to have found slight amusement from the act, as he gave a short snicker. A demonic snicker, but it sounded like amusement nonetheless. 

**_“Yes. Bow before your God weaklings. For we shall meet again..”_**

He then glared at Mirian with his cold, red demonic eyes as his body phased back into a rift, and within seconds he vanished back to Oblivion.  
Mirian breathed a sigh of relief.  
It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her.. Well.. EVERYTHING.  
As Haxal and Mirian looked back at the surviving defenders, Vindalmo shoved his way through them, glaring down the Dunmer and Argonian with unbridled fury  
“You two. In my office. NOW” 

**\------Infirmary------**

All the screaming and thundering sounds of battle seemed to have stopped  
“Is it over Avantia?” Taz asked  
The Breton took a glance back at the door as it swung open, and three more injured men were rushed in, filling up the Infirmary to near capacity  
“I hope so.. So many injured, so few places to let them rest..”  
She knelt down and pulled a white blanket over an unmoving body on the ground  
Taz leaned against the wall next to the door, holding onto both of her crutches. Her leg was healing at a steady pace, and she was willing to give up her bed for the casualties.  
All the groaning and wincing of pain that reverberated through the room as Avantia and Rumare darted from one patient to the other was depressing. How does anyone put up with this? 

**“WE WON!”** A man yelled as he entered the room 

Everyone who was conscious in the room looked over with a measure of joy  
“WE DID??” Avantia replied  
The man nodded  
“It was with the help of a Dremora summoned by some Dark Elf. It single-handedly put the Thalmor to flight”  
The measure of hope in the room faded  
“A Dremora?” Rumare spoke up as the man ran off to spread the news  
“Oh no.. This is bad..” Avantia mumbled  
Knowing that the mood in here just got worse, Taz pushed off from the wall  
“Can I help Avantia?” She asked, picking up her crutches and carefully making her way over to the Breton  
“Yes.. Actually. I need you to go see Vindalmo, if he’s still alive. I’m very busy here, so could you ask him what we should do next?”  
Taz nodded  
“Khajiit will do that.”  
Avantia forced a smile  
“Thank you. Be careful, and don’t put pressure on the leg.”  
Taz made her way outside into the central chamber. 

Rebels were gathering around, tending to their wounds, weeping, taking a moment to relax, or whatever. She bypassed a man and woman making out in a narrow passageway.  
Evidently, they must be overjoyed that both of them survived to see eachother again.  
Isn't love grand...  
She couldn’t imagine how bad it must look outside.. 

_“I cannot begin to describe how furious I am with you..”_  
Vindalmo muttered, pacing back and forth in front of his desk  
“Aren’t you glad we won the battle? The Thalmor are defeated and your people are saved. This is a victory for you!!” Mirian replied  
**“I’M COORDINATING AN EFFORT TO WEAKEN THE THALMOR. NOT ORCHESTRATING A GODSDAMN CIVIL WAR!”**  
He slammed a fist on the desk before taking a deep breath  
“Meeting with you three was a mistake. Now the Thalmor believe we are a much more dangerous threat, now that we supposedly work with the Daedra. And also that we are fully capable of almost wiping out an army. Do you realize the position this puts every man, woman and child within this Province in?”  
Mirian and Haxal shook their heads  
“It means that now the Thalmor will see us as an actual THREAT. This could lead to martial law being declared in the cities. Witch hunts to root out Rebel sympathizers. The Talos Hunts were bad enough on their own. Now the Thalmor could very well imprison and execute anyone they suspect of being a rebel.”  
He held his forehead and grimaced at the mental trauma coursing through his mind 

_“Sorry.”_ Mirian muttered softly 

“Sorry.. **SORRY???? AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE. YOU SAY SORRY????? YOUR LUCKY I DON’T EXECUTE YOU TWO RIGHT NOW!** But no, Nicolas and Seccilia want you and your mangy housecat alive. So.. I’ll give you two options..”  
He paused as he sat back down  
“Either you take your Khajiit partner and get the fuck out of my sight. Or I turn you all into the Thalmor. Chances are they’ll keep you alive until you run out of air to scream and nerves to feel torture."  
Mirian lowered her head  
“We’ll get Taz and leave”  
“Good. You have 15 minutes to fuck off”  
Vindalmo turned his back to them  
Haxal helped Mirian out of her chair. She was tearing softly  
“Come on. Let’s just go..” He said warmly to her as they approached the door  
It suddenly opened and Taz stood there  
“Oh. Hi Mirian and Haxal! You survived!” She said with a relieved smile  
“We’re leaving Taz. Come on” Mirian muttered  
“But, Khajiit needs to ask Vindalmo-”  
**“WE’RE LEAVING”** She yelled back and grabbed Taz’s arm  
“Uh.. VINDALMO! AVANTIA WANTS TO SEE YOU!” She called out as Mirian dragged her away  
Vindalmo didn't even flinch. 

**\------One Day Later | Anvil | 2:00am------**

Taz opened an eye upon hearing a floorboard creak.  
After they had returned to Anvil, and proved their innocence to the Thalmor gate guards by paying a ransom of a hundred septims, they had spent the rest of the day at Quill-Weaves home. Resting, recuperating, and waiting for Nicolas or Seccilia to contact them. Which hasn’t happened yet.  
Taz’s leg had healed a lot, Avantia and Rumare really knew what they were doing. Yet she was warned to not apply too much pressure on it just yet. A few more days and she should be perfectly mobile.  
So Taz decided to sleep downstairs on the couches in the living room next to the fireplace. Rather than go through the trouble of making her clumsy way up the staircase.  
She scanned the room, and thanks to her darkvision, she spotted Haxal skulking in the shadows towards the kitchen. 

_“Dras’kay Haxal”_ She said quietly, but still loud enough that he could hear her  
He almost jumped in place and looked over at her  
The fireplace still had a bit of flame left to warm up the room, and it lit up Taz a little.  
She was still curled up on the couch under her blanket. Watching him with two faintly glowing blue eyes  
“Don’t scare me like that. I thought you were asleep” He said back to her  
“Khajiit has good ears. What are you doing up so early?”  
Haxal stood next to one of the cushioned chairs  
“Hungry. I Came down for something to eat.”  
Taz shuffled from her curled up position and sat up  
“Thank you again for carrying me. I feel useless with this leg. I didn’t get to fight with you”  
Haxal shook his head  
“Your not useless. And besides, it’s probably best you didn’t get to fight. It wasn’t pretty at all.. And.. Well. You saw the aftermath.”  
“Yes.. Khajiit has a scroll of summoning too. But knowing MY luck, it’ll probably be for a Xivalii”  
“Is that a sort of Dremora?”  
Taz gave an uncertain grunt  
“I only read a little on them, but they are powerful, and when not killing things, they.. Are rumoured to impregnate young, impressionable females with half-Daedric children.”  
She paused  
“Taz is a young, impressionable female”  
“I highly doubt that is true. There is no such thing as ‘Half-Daedric’  
Taz shrugged  
“I don’t know if they’re true, only rumours. But This One is NOT getting seduced by Daedra”  
Haxal pulled up the chair he was leaning on and sat down  
“Y’know, I learnt something about you and Mirian since I started travelling with you..”  
“What is it?” Taz perked an ear up  
“It’s.. Well.. Mirian is quite open with her.. ‘Proclivities’ while you are very touchy and.. Shy about it. I’m just surprised that with how it is between you two, that you still haven’t.. Like.. Gotten together.”  
Taz lowered an ear in a ponderous motion 

_“I’m scared to..”_ She said in a timid voice 

Haxal made no response, just looked at her in a non-judgmental way  
“I don’t know what I should expect or what I should do. I don’t want to screw up like my _Kimer._ My cousin. And get stuck with a litter and be forced to stay home like she is, but I also don’t want to be alone forever..”  
Her ears lowered and her tail drooped over the edge of the couch  
Haxal got up and sat next to her.  
Right, he did something like this with Mirian. Taz wasn’t crying, just her ears and tail were lowered. And she was now looking at him, expecting him to say something.  
SHIT. Think of something fast 

“You know.. I used to think the same way. In Black Marsh, I was never popular with females. Heck.. The fact I’m sitting here next to you. And a _KHAJIIT_ for that matter.. It’s something.  
But back home, the females naturally decided to be around the guy with the bigger tail and more defined musculature. And with that came the breeding and bragging. My brother once mated with 4 females in one weekend. Three for the first night, and his favourite for the second."  
He took a glance over at Taz  
She was snuggled up in her blanket, listening with all her attention.  
She was actually.. Quite cute in her current position.  
“My life back home was getting me nowhere. I had to leave my family, and make something of myself. I came to Cyrodiil seeking my fortune, but got stuck picking berries for barely any coin. Then by chance I met Mirian and.. Well. That was the first time I spent the night with a woman. Sure she isn’t Argonian but.. She’s still female. Heck, You two are probably the most terrifying creatures I’ve come across yet”  
Taz gave a short giggle as Haxal grinned with her  
“I guess what I should be saying is.. Don’t rush these things. Don’t fall for a guy because he has a big tail or.. Whatever. Find who is undeniably right for you. And then flow like the river's course.”  
She smiled warmly at him  
“Thank you Haxal.” She replied, though her voice was almost entirely without her usual Khajiiti accent.  
“Hey. No problem. _Tazzie”_  
She grinned again, then curled back up on the couch with a big yawn  
Haxal got up, and went for the kitchen.  
When he emerged a minute later, holding a small chunk of bread and a glass of warm milk in his hand, he looked over at Taz. Fast asleep again. Cuddled up in her blanket.  
He grinned and bit into the bread  
Mirian was right.  
_She is just a little fuzzball._

**Author's Note:**

> Working on these chapters during the night when everyone else is asleep, while also listening to my favourite music is a certain kind of calm that you cannot really find anywhere else.


End file.
